 Blondie was one of the few
"new wave" bands that grew out of
the punk sound of the 70s and found pop and
alternative success in the 80s. Blondie
consisted of Debbie Harry (vocals), Chris
Stein (on guitar), Frank Infante (on guitar),
Clement Burke (on drums), Gary Valentine (on
bass until replaced by Infante), Nigel
Harrison (on bass), and James Destri (on
keyboards) The band formed in New York in
1974 after Harry left a folk-rock group
called Wind In The Willows (she had
previously been in an all-girl band called
The Stilettoes where she met Stein). The
band's name is said to have come from what
truck drivers used to call Harry when she
walked by - some argue its from the popular
comic strip character.
  Blondie released their first LP,
Blondie.
Blondie released Plastic
Letters and had their first Top 10 U.K.
hits with "Denis" and "(I'm
Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear."
The same year, Blondie toured with Iggy
Pop in the U.S.
 It was Blondie's 3rd LP, Parallel
Lines that got the band noticed in
the U.S. and around the world. In the U.K.,
Blondie had more hits with the tracks
"Picture This" and "Hanging On
The Telephone" and in the U.S., the
alternative-disco hit "Heart Of
Glass" went all the way to #1.
Additional hits from the LP included
"One Way Or Another" and
"Sunday Girl." Parallel
Lines was later ranked as
the 52nd Greatest Albums of All-Time by NME
and sold over 20 million copies worldwide.
 Parallel
Lines was certified gold and the
single "Heart Of Glass" was
certified gold.
Parallel
Lines was certified platinum.
Eat
To The Beat was released with the
hits "Atomic,"
"Dreaming" and "Union City
Blue."
 # 8
Singles Artist of the Year
 Eat
To The Beat was certified gold.
Blondie hit the Top 40 and Top 10 with "Call Me" from the American
Gigolo soundtrack.
Blondie topped
the UK singles chart for 2 weeks with "Atomic."
 Blondie hit #1 for 7 weeks with "Call Me"
The single "Call Me" was certified
gold.
Blondie topped
the UK singles chart for a week with "Call Me."
Blondie hit the Top 40 with
"Atomic."
Eat
To The Beat was certified platinum.
 Blondie released Autoamerican, which gave them their
3rd and 4th #1 songs in the U.S. with "The Tide Is High" and "Rapture."
Blondie hit the Top 40 with
"The Tide Is High."
Blondie topped
the UK singles chart for 2 weeks with "The Tide Is High."
Blondie hit the Top 10 with "The Tide Is High."
Blondie topped the Billboard
Year-End Charts with the Top Hot 100
Single ("Call Me").
 Blondie: # 14
Singles Artist of the Year - Debbie
Harry: # 137
Singles Artist of the Year
 By 1981, Blondie became more
distracted as a group with work on individual
projects and a lawsuit from band member
Infante (because "he had been left out
of band discussions" regarding their
future). Also during the year, Stein was
diagnosed with the genetic disease,
pemphigus, which is often fatal.
Blondie hit #1 for 2 weeks with "The Tide Is High."
Autoamerican was certified platinum
and the single "The Tide Is High" was certified
gold.
 Blondie hit the Top 40 with
"Rapture."
Blondie were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a
Duo or Group ("Call Me").
Blondie hit the Top 10 and #1 for 2 weeks with "Rapture."
The single "Rapture" was certified
gold.
Harry hit the Top 40 solo with
"Backfired" from her LP KooKoo.
 The
Best Of Blondie was released.
Debbie's solo effort KooKoo was certified gold.
 # 176
Singles Artist of the Year
The
Best Of Blondie was certified gold.
 Blondie's success had faded with
the release of The
Hunter. Tracks such as "Island Of Lost Souls" and "War
Child" were mild hits in the U.S. and
the U.K.
The band officially called it
quits when Stein had serious health problems.
Debbie Harry continued to pursue a solo
career while also caring for her companion,
Stein.
Blondie hit the Top 40 "Island Of Lost Souls."
 Debbie
Harry: # 163
Singles Artist of the Year
Rolling
Stone: "The 100 Top Music Videos" included "Rapture" at # 82.
The collection Blonde
And Beyond was released.
 The collection The
Platinum Collection was released.
Blondie topped the Billboard Hot
Dance Music Club Play chart for a week with
"Atomic."
The collection The
Remix Project - Remixed Remade Remodeled was released.
 Debbie Harry has gone on to
release 4 solo LPs: KooKoo (1981), Rockbird (1986), Once
More Into The Bleach (1988), Def
Dumb And Blonde (1989), and Debravation (1993).
Stein began the
process of regrouping Blondie for a comeback
and contacted Destri, who was then producing,
and Burke, who was working as a session
musician.
 It was
announced that Debbie Harry and the gang of
Blondie were back in the studio for a new LP.
Billboard reported that
only Harry, Stein, Burke, and Destri will
regroup for the new LP, No
Exit. Originally the intent was to
get together to perform a few new tracks for
a greatest hits collection. But instead, the
makings of a brand new LP was in the works. A
spokesperson for the band said "they
feel like greatest hits albums are made by
bands that are trying to make a comeback...
this is not a reunion, this is Blondie
chapter 3, or 2, depending on who you
ask."
Two original band members
opposed the re-grouping of Blondie without
them. Frank Infante and Nigel Harrison sued
to stop the reunion as well as asking for $1
million for financial misconduct.
 # 84
Singles Artist of the Year
 Blondie's comeback LP, No
Exit, was released and featured the
first single "Maria" which had
already topped the singles chart in the UK
for 2 weeks. When Blondie talked with MTV the
focus was on Harry's groundbreaking role as a
woman fronting a rock band in the 70s: Destri
commented: "She opened the floodgates
kids" and Stein said "The male rock
establishment, the male rock critical
establishment was really sexist back in those
days... and she got knocked very heavily for
selling her sexuality..."
Stein told CNN: "It's a
continuation. It feels like we were in the
studio for 16 years. It was bottled up and
this album was an outpouring." Burke
added: "We have more acceptance and
credibility from being away for so long. Our
songs have a life of their own. It's like
having a career without having a
career." Harry told Rolling
Stone that the title for their LP
"...has to do with the fact that no
matter where we go, we're Blondie. There was
no exit for any of us not being identified
with Blondie."
Blondie returned to the Top 40
with "Maria."
The
Best Of Blondie was certified platinum.
Blondie performed at the Tibetan
Freedom Concerts.
Debbie Harry was ranked # 12 on VH1: 100
Greatest Women of Rock & Roll.
 Blondie released a live LP, Blondie
Live, featuring 19 tracks. The
Advocate named Harry as one of the '25
Coolest Women' while the band filed a lawsuit
claiming their former label EMI Records
beached their contract based on royalties.
VH1: 100
Greatest Dance Songs includes
Blondie's "Heart Of Glass" at # 79.
VH1: 100
Greatest Videos includes:
# 91
- "Rapture."
Blondie toured
the US during the summer and will then be
working on a new LP to be released next year.
Stein told Rolling
Stone: "We're trying to keep it
eclectic as usual. There's a couple more
dance-y type things - a few sort of styles we
haven't hit before. It may be a little
darker. I think some of Debbie's best lyrics
are on this thing."
 The book Blondie,
From Punk To The Present: A Pictorial History by Allan Metz was
released - "The first new book on
Blondie in 2 decades. The Blondie story in
photography and print. Includes many
first-time published photos by famous punk
music chroniclers. Provides background on the
New York City punk music scene from the mid
to late 1970s and places Blondie within this
context. Plus consideration of Deborah
Harry's solo career and Blondie now..."
Debbie Harry
ranked # 18 on VH1: 100
Sexiest Artists.
A collection of
Debbie Harry hits was released - The
Collection.
 Blondie released another hits
collection - Greatest
Hits - with a greatest hits DVD as
well.
Rolling Stone:
50 Essential 'Woman In Rock' Albums includes Parallel
Lines at # 6.
Debbie Harry appeared as herself
on the NBC show Will
& Grace.
 VH1: 100 Best
Songs of the Past 25 Years includes "Heart
Of Glass" at # 42.
Rolling Stone:
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: # 140:
Parallel
Lines.
Blondie released The
Curse Of Blondie (released overseas
last September).
Debbie was featured on VH1's Divas
Live.
# 171 on the Top Pop Artists
of the Past 25 Years chart.
 The
Best Of Blondie was certified 2x platinum.
Blondie released the hits
compilation CD/DVD Greatest
Hits: Sound & Vision.
Blondie were inducted into the
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
 VH1: 100
Greatest Songs of the 80's included "Call Me" at # 78.
Debbie Harry released Necessary
Evil (Rolling Stone:  - Entertainment
Weekly:
B).
|
Blondie
Released: 1976
Tracks: "X
Offender" - "Little Girl
Lies" - "In The Flesh" -
"Look Good In Blue" - "In
The Sun" - "A Shark In Jets
Clothing" - "Man
Overboard" - "Rip Her To
Shreds" - "Rifle Range" -
"Kung Fu Girls" - "The
Attack Of The Giant Ants" -
"Out In The Streets"(Original
Instant Records Demo) - "The Thin
Line" (Original Instant Records
Demo) - "Platinum Blonde"
(Original Instant Records Demo) - "X
Offender" (Original Private Stock
Single Version) - "In The Sun"
(Original Private Stock Single Version) |
 |
Plastic Letters
Released: 1977
Billboard
peak:
# 72
Tracks: "Fan
Mail" - "Denis" -
"Bermuda Triangle Blues (Flight
45)" - "Youth Nabbed As
Sniper" - "Contact In Red
Square" - "(I'm Always Touched
By Your) Presence, Dear" - "I'm
On The E" - "I Didn't Have The
Nerve To Say No" - "Love At The
Pier" - "No Imagination" -
"Kidnapper" - "Detroit
442" - "Cautious Lip" -
"Once I Had A Love (aka The Disco
Song)" (1975 Version) -
"Scenery" - "Poets
Problem" - "Detroit 442"
(live) |
|
Parallel Lines
 Released: September, 1978
US: Platinum
Billboard
peak:
# 6
Rolling Stone
review: 
Tracks: "Hanging On
The Telephone" - "One Way Or
Another" - "Picture This"
- "Fade Away And Radiate" -
"Pretty Baby" - "I Know
But I Don't Know" -
"11:59" - "Will Anything
Happen?" - "Sunday Girl" -
"Heart Of Glass" - "I'm
Gonna Love You Too" - "Just Go
Away" - "Once I Had A Love (aka
The Disco Song)" (1978 Version) -
"Bang A Gong (Get It On)"
(live) - "I Know But I Don't
Know" (live) - "Hanging On The
Telephone" (live) |
 |
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